University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign; BS 1950, MS 1951, PhD 1954
Known for
Invention of the GaAs0.60P0.40 visible light diode laser and LED
Awards
National Academy of Engineering (1973)
National Academy of Sciences (1984),
IEEE Edison Medal (1989)
National Medal of Science (1990)
National Medal of Technology (2002)
IEEE Medal of Honor (2003)
Global Energy Prize (2003)
Lemelson-MIT Prize (2004)
National Inventors Hall of Fame (2008)
Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering (2021)
Scientific career
Fields
Electrical engineering
Thesis
Effect of Surface Conditions on Characteristics of Rectifier Junctions(1954)
Doctoral advisor
John Bardeen
Nick Holonyak Jr. (/hʌlɒnjæk/huh-LON-yak; November 3, 1928 – September 18, 2022) was an American engineer and educator. He is noted particularly for his 1962 invention and first demonstration of a semiconductor laser diode that emitted visible light. This device was the forerunner of the first generation of commercial light-emitting diodes (LEDs). He was then working at a General Electric research laboratory near Syracuse, New York. He left General Electric in 1963 and returned to his alma mater, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where he later became John Bardeen Endowed Chair in Electrical and Computer Engineering and Physics.[1][2]
^Schubert, E. Fred (2018). Light-Emitting Diodes (3 ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 2–6. ISBN 9780986382666. Another important step in the development of GaAsyP1–y (or simply GaAsP) LEDs occurred in 1962 when Holonyak and Bevacqua (1962) reported on the emission of coherent visible light from GaAsP p-n junctions at low temperatures (77 K) under pulsed current injection. The emission of coherent light was limited to low temperatures. At room temperature, the devices worked as LEDs and emitted incoherent visible red light. The 1962 publication is considered a milestone in the development of pn-junction LEDs made from III–V semiconductors emitting in the visible wavelength range (Holonyak, 1987).
^"Nick Holonyak". www.aip.org. February 19, 2015. Archived from the original on September 12, 2018. Retrieved April 6, 2019.
NickHolonyak Jr. (/hʌlɒnjæk/ huh-LON-yak; November 3, 1928 – September 18, 2022) was an American engineer and educator. He is noted particularly for...
by the Global Energy Prize. In 2021, Nakamura, along with Akasaki, NickHolonyak, M. George Craford, and Russell D. Dupuis, were awarded the Queen Elizabeth...
organic materials. 1960 Theodore H. Maiman creates the first laser. 1962 NickHolonyak Jr. develops the first practical visible-spectrum (red) light-emitting...
candidate. The first visible wavelength laser diode was demonstrated by NickHolonyak, Jr. later in 1962; he used gallium arsenide-phosphide alloy. Other...
color for the first decade. The first practical LED was invented by NickHolonyak in 1962 while he was at General Electric. The first practical LED display...
Sciences published a biographical memoir of Maiman including a tribute by NickHolonyak, Jr. In 2017 UNESCO declared May 16 the International Day of Light,...
white light sources". In 2021, Akasaki, along with Shuji Nakamura, NickHolonyak, M. George Craford and Russell D. Dupuis were awarded the Queen Elizabeth...
supervision of NickHolonyak. In 1989, Dallesasse co-discovered the III-V semiconductor oxidation processing technology with NickHolonyak for the formation...
Professorship, from the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. 2014, NickHolonyak Jr. Award, from the Optical Society. 2017, IEEE Jun-ichi Nishizawa Medal...
must have references showing they are Rusyn American and are notable. NickHolonyak, creator of the LED (both parents Rusyn) Sandra Dee, actress (Rusyn...
Archived from the original on December 6, 2023. Retrieved May 13, 2024. "NickHolonyak, Jr. - IEEE Awards". Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers...
recording data on a machine-readable medium, tabulator, punched cards NickHolonyak (born 1928), U.S. – LED (Light Emitting Diode) Norman Holter (1914–1983)...
Milton Feng co-created the first transistor laser, working with NickHolonyak in 2004. The paper discussing their work was voted in 2006 as one of the...
1960 American engineer Theodore Maiman develops the first laser 1962 NickHolonyak invented the LED 1963 First home Videocassette recorder (VCR) 1963 Electronic...
incremental work in developing the LED by other pioneers such as Oleg Losev, NickHolonyak, and Gertrude Neumark and overlooked a prior claim for invention of...
1989—Harry George Drickamer, Herbert E. Grier 1990—Mildred Dresselhaus, NickHolonyak 1991—George H. Heilmeier, Luna Leopold, Guyford Stever 1992—Calvin Quate...
the near-infrared band of the spectrum at 850 nm. Later that year, NickHolonyak Jr. demonstrated the first semiconductor laser with a visible emission...
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